


She's a Believer

by canadduh



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, AU: OC Insert, Adventure, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family, Hunters, Hunting, Hurt/Comfort, Romance if you squint, Some angst, i am bad at tagging, starts in season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:09:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8492746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadduh/pseuds/canadduh
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester are not what she expected them to be. Granted the differences between real people and characters on TV were always major. For one thing, characters weren't real people. But real people were, y'know, real. This is the story of Rian Fitzgerald, an intern, a nobody, and a believer of the impossible.





	

“What the hell.” 

Rian looked up from her spot on the bed to see someone climbing through her window. Once the initial shock had worn off, she opened her mouth to yell but found a large hand clasped gently but firmly over it. She was shaking and getting ready to bite the hand when she saw another man, for these two people were too large and muscular to be anything else, in her room. 

Her gray eyes quickly flickered between the two men, trying to find a way out of this situation. She’d taken some self-defense when she was twelve, but she had a sinking feeling that her orange belt in karate was not going to help her now. 

Apparently her body was thinking ahead of her mind because suddenly she was licking the hand that covered her mouth. The man retracted his hand in disgust, and if Rian herself, wasn’t in the position she was in, clad only in shorts and a sports bra surrounded by two grown men, she would have laughed at the look on his face. As it was, she found that she could only glare at the two men. 

“Who the fuck are you?” She questioned, now that she had use of, her mouth, “Why the fuck are you here?” 

She was reaching for her phone on the nightstand when the shorter of the two men, the one with the brilliant jade eyes, grabbed her wrist. She opened her mouth to yell but the other man, the taller one with the shaggy brown hair, covered her mouth again. 

“We don’t want to hurt you.” The taller man said in a surprisingly kind and husky voice. 

Rian rolled her eyes, those were the cliched words of the every day robber. She felt herself begin to shake, which always happened when she didn’t have full control of her breathing and tried desperately to calm down, 

The first thing she did was count slowly backward from ten. When that didn’t work, she tried saying the alphabet backward starting from M then forwards starting from N. When none of her usual tactics worked she licked the hand again. She knew she wouldn’t be able to calm down until she could breathe properly. 

“Are you okay?” The taller man asked, and Rian glared at him. 

“Two strange men are in my room, and you’re asking if I’m okay?” She quipped, which was probably not her brightest move of the day. 

She shook her wrist free of the other man’s grip and wrapped both of her arms around her stomach. Rian was pretty sure she was going to throw up. Nearly one hundred percent positive, in fact.  
She turned her head to the side of the bed that the shorter man, Shorty, was standing on and proceeded to throw up, much to his disgust. 

“Holy Crap” The man yelled, narrowly avoiding having his boots covered in the remains of Rian’s lunch. “Shit man, I did not sign up for this.” 

Rian could hear the man walking towards the window, but he was stopped by the taller one, Shaggy. 

“Dean, we can’t just leave her like this.” Shaggy said as Rian continued to dry heave. 

“No, Sam,” Shorty, apparently Dean, said gruffly, “I did not sign up for chicks throwing up on me. If Henry wants this hunt cleared up, he can do it himself.” 

Shaggy, or Sam if Rian wanted to be proper, knelt by the bed. “What’s your name?” 

“Like I’d tell you.” Rian said, or at least tried to say, her throat was sore, and her mouth was gross and dry. Rian started to cough. 

Sam looked around the room quickly before spotting a water bottle on one of the shelves. He grabbed it and unscrewed the lid before handing it to Rian. 

“Thanks.” She said, not one to forget her manners, before chugging the entire bottle in one go. 

When she finished the water, she took a moment to catch her breath and try to get her jumbled thoughts together. This was obviously not a typical break in, but she couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. 

“Like I’d tell you.” Rian said, at last, finally getting the full sentence out. “You break into my room and expect me to be forthcoming with information?” 

Now that Rian had the chance to look at the two men she found that they looked familiar but couldn’t quite place where from. She shook her head. Obviously she didn’t know who they were! And anyways, why did it matter? They were trespassing! 

“You’re right.” Sam, no, Shaggy said with a small smirk, “I’m Sam, and this is Dean. Do you live here?” 

Rian looked at the man incredulously. 

“No. I broke in early and decided to sit on the bed doing homework.” Rian quipped gesturing to the laptop that had slid off her lap and the pile of papers that surrounded her, “dumbass.”  
The other man, Shorty, snorted. 

“Obviously our information was wrong, c’mon, Sammy.” The man started to climb out the window. 

“Wait?” Rian practically ordered. Dean and Sam. She knew those names and those faces. But she couldn’t possibly be right, could she? Unless, of course, someone was playing a very elaborate prank on her. 

Or maybe she had drunk too much last night. 

Except for the fact that Rian avoided alcohol like the plague that was entirely possible. 

One of the men cleared their throats and Rian realized she hadn’t asked the question she’d been meaning to ask. 

“Sam and Dean who?” Rian asked, wringing her hands nervously. 

“Winchester.” Shaggy said. 

Rian nearly fainted. 

“That’s not possible.” Rian said, her face drained of color. “This is not possible.” 

The brothers exchanged a look before the slowly made their way back into the room. They both moved to the same side of the bed to avoid the puke that Rian had so elegantly left on the floor. As a unit, they knelt next to the bed. Sam took Rian’s left hand gently between both of his whiles Dean kept his hands to himself. 

“Hey, hey,” Sam said gently, his voice working wonders on Rian’s nerves. “What’s wrong. We can help.” 

Rian shook her head slowly. If Sam hadn’t had control of one of her hands she’d have both of them clutched into her chaotic brown hair, as it was one of her hands was working the curls into an almost nested state. Rian would not be surprised to find a birds egg there one of these days. 

Sam started to murmur comforting words while Rian worked to calm herself down. Rian prided herself on being rational and calm in stressful situations and right now she was neither of those, much to her disappointment. 

Rian could hear someone drumming their fingers on the floor and used the sound to calm her nerve. Thankfully it worked, unlike her other tactics, and she was able to finally open the eyes she didn’t realize she had closed.  
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked again, hoping that this time the girl could answer.

“Why are you guys here?” Rian asked instead. How could she explain that these two men were part of a TV show that she had obsessed over for the past seven or eight years?

Maybe she was crazy. It was probably that, nothing else made sense. 

“We’re trying to find someone. A source told us this place was abandoned by the person we're looking for. Obviously, they were wrong.” Dean grumbled. 

“Obviously” Rian said looking around the room, avoiding looking at the two impossible men. 

Something was wrong. She noticed it immediately. 

Rian pushed herself off the bed and stumbled across the room to her desk. 

Well the desk that should have been hers. 

Rian’s desk was two horse stands supporting a slab of lightly finished wood. Rian’s dad had worked in construction, and Rian had gotten the stands and wood from him before he and her mom had split up. It was Rian’s work desk for her wood work. 

The desk in front of her was a dark wood, almost antique, a monster of a desk. She had never seen the thing before in her life. The dresser matched the desk, and the chair Rian had pushed out of the way was a rolling leather chair. Rian’s chair and been a rusty blue metal folding chair. 

She continued to look around the room, aware of both sets of eyes on her, before going to sit on the bed again. Neither of the Winchesters had moved from their spots. 

“Okay, I’m officially crazy.” Rian had remarked before she started sobbing. 

“I’ll be in the car.” Dean said before standing. Sam glared at him, trying to communicate that he needed to stay without using words. 

Dean shook his head and made his escape the same way he had made his entrance. Sam sighed before turning his attention back to the young woman in front of him. 

She looked to be Sam’s age, about 22, with brown hair that needed a good brushing. She was wearing pink shorts and a gray sports bra. Sam could see a few scars on the girl’s arms and legs that looked self-inflicted but old. He resisted the urge to pull her into his arms. 

Once it seemed that the girl was calming down again Sam asked another question. He was tired of calling her ‘the girl.' 

“What’s your name?” Sam asked, this time Rian answered. 

“Rian Fitzgerald” Rian said with a hiccup. “Sorry about the mess I’m in. Kinda a weird day.” 

“Tell me about it.” Sam said in the tone that implied that he had also had a weird day. 

“You wouldn’t believe me.” Rian said, “I don’t even believe me.” 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, looking at the girl curiously. 

It was only then that Rian became self-conscious. She was well underclothed for her comfort in front of another person. Quickly she stood and rushed to the dresser to go through the clothes there. Upon checking the size for each shirt, she realized they would all be too tight. She groaned and went to the closet, hoping to find something more fitting there. 

She was lucky to find a green sweater that was in her size. She threw it on before turning to look at Sam, who had watched her move throughout the room. He raised an eyebrow, prompting her to explain. 

“I don’t live here.” Rian said, “I mean, I live in a house just like this and this room is a copy of my room but it’s not mine.” 

Sam nodded, “Okay, what does that mean.” 

“I think it means I need your help.” Rian said, running a hand through her hair only for it to get caught on tangles, “And hopefully a shower.” 

Sam chuckled before growing serious, “We can try to help you, Dean and me, but we’re gonna need to know the full story.” 

“Not here, not until I have proper clothes.” Rian said, picking up her laptop and shoving it into an empty backpack. She slipped her phone into one of the side pockets and turned to Sam, “Not until I have shoes.” 

Sam looked down to see that Rian was indeed barefoot. He agreed, and the two left the room through the window onto a balcony that was attached to the house. There was no gate keeping anyone out and the path to the road was neatly trimmed. This was not Rian’s house. 

“Did you have to bring her with you?” Dean gripped when Rian and Sam were standing next to the Impala at the bottom of the hill. 

Rian was grinning and trying to resist the urge to pet the car. Truly, the shiny black Chevy Impala was even more gorgeous in person than she had been on a TV screen. 

Dean caught her staring at the car and frowned. The girl, Rian apparently, was much too excited about his Baby. He’d have to keep an even closer eye on her than he had been planning too. 

“Sam says you need clothes before we get the story.” Dean spoke when the group was driving off in the Impala. “You and Sammy are gonna go to Walmart or whatever and get you some clothes.” 

“Fine by me.” Rian said, leaning back in her seat. 

Now that she wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack she was able to think. Rian had always believed in alternate and parallel universes; she just hadn’t thought that it was possible to travel between them. She’d read fanfiction where the lucky- or unlucky- original character was transported to a different universe; maybe those were more credible than she’d thought?

Of course, Rian wasn’t ruling out the crazy, delusional, psychotic episode she was potential having. 

But she didn’t feel crazy. Okay, maybe she felt just a little bit crazy. 

Mostly she was excited. For the first time in twenty-two years, Rian was going on the adventure she had always dreamed of. Who gave a damn if this meant she was crazy? 

“Rian?” The way Sam said her name told Rian that it was not the first time it had been spoken. 

“Wha?” She said in her most brilliant fashion, turning to face forward instead of looking out the window of the backseat. 

“We’re at WalMart.” Sam said, almost apologetically. 

Rian saw both of the Winchesters watching her, Sam looking almost concerned, and Dean with a raised eyebrow. Rian blushed and mumbled something about how she had been thinking before scrambling out of the car. 

“I’ll be back in thirty.” Dean said although he was speaking to Sam, pointedly ignoring Rian. 

Once they were in the store it didn’t take long for the two of them to get into an argument about the best shoes for Rian. 

“I’m the one who’s gonna be wearing them.” Rian pointed out, not for the first time, as she held up a pair of black converse. 

“But boots are gonna protect your feet better!” Sam argued, holding up a pair of sturdy hiking boots. Rian was never going to admit that he had won her over with “They’re only two dollars more and they’ll last longer.” She enjoyed the argument too much. 

“Who says my feet need protecting?” Rian asked, “What if my feet are capable of protecting themselves?” 

“What?” Sam asked, looking at the young woman with confusion. 

“My feet are strong, independent, feet that don’t need no shoes.” Rian said before taking the boots from Sam and setting down the converse. She put the boots in the cart with the fleece-lined green jacket they had found.

“What.” Sam repeated before following Rian as she went to look for socks. 

“This is a no shirt, no shoes, no service establishment.” A nasally voice said from behind Rian and Sam, who were arguing over the merits of boot socks compared to ankle socks, even though they had both chosen socks already. 

Rian and Sam both turned to find that the owner of the voice was a lot shorter then they had expected. Rian was average in height, standing at five feet and six inches, but the man in front of them was lucky if he was considered 5’ on a good day. 

“Excuse me?” Rian asked politely. Honestly, the man reminded her of Peter Pettigrew with a terrible comb over and over hanging front teeth. 

“This is a no shirt, no shoes, no service establishment.” The man repeated. 

“I have a shirt on, he has shoes, what’s the problem?” Rian asked, tilting her head to the side innocently, “Or are you trying to discriminate against me? Is that it? If so I’d like to speak to your manager about this.” 

“What?” The man asked, confused and unsettled by the turn this had taken. 

“It’s my religion.” Rian explained, her voice taking on the tone of a mother scolding an unruly child, “I don’t wear shoes because of my religion.” 

“Oh, well.” The man said, “In that case.” 

He quickly turned and disappeared around the corner. 

Sam watched Rian carefully and saw that she was shaking. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, putting a hand on the woman’s shoulder

Rian turned to face Sam, and he was relieved to see that she was only holding back laughter. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle and soon the two were giggling like mad. 

“I can’t believe he fell for that.” Rian said, wiping away a tear, “how are people so unobservant? These boots are obviously not in your size.” 

“Well, not everyone can connect the dots,” Sam said, having also calmed down from his laughing fit, “Nice job using religion.” 

“Thanks. I had this friend in college who never wore shoes because of his religion.” Rian explained as the two went to look at jeans. 

“Really? What was his religion?” Sam asked, watching Rian as she ran her hands on the clothes they were passing to find the jeans. 

“I never asked.” Rian said with a small frown. 

Soon the cart was full of supplies that both Rian and Sam needed. Toiletries, clothes, some foodstuffs, and a duffle bag for Rian. They were at the checkout line when Sam grabbed a prepaid phone from an abandoned cart. 

“For you.” Sam said when Rian raised an eyebrow at him. 

Rian shook her head and pulled her phone from the pocket of the backpack she was still wearing. 

“I have a phone.” Rian said. 

“It’s always good to have an extra.” Sam argued 

“I don’t need an extra, Sam.” Rian said, “You’ve already done enough I don’t need a phone.” 

“Too bad.” Sam said as they pulled up to the front of the line, effectively ending the conversation.

They walked out to find that Dean was nowhere in sight. Sam sighed and led Rian to a bench that was halfway between the two exits. 

“Do you and Dean usually shop at Walmart?” Rian asked 

“When there’s one around yeah.” Sam said, “Otherwise we go to thrift stores. But I figured you’d want to get new clothes so they’d last longer.” 

“Thanks.” Rian said, letting the two lapse into a comfortable silence. 

Five minutes later Dean pulled up and the two loaded their findings into the back of the Impala. Dean just rolled his eyes before taking off to a motel. 

The outside of the motel was gross, and Rian was surprised to find that it was comfortable looking on the inside. There were two beds, a decent looking couch, a table with three chairs, a mini-fridge, and a microwave. She and Sam lugged their things onto one of the beds. 

Rian was just about to sit down when she found herself painfully against the wall. She cringed and groaned at the pain but otherwise remained silent. 

Dean Winchester was holding a knife to her throat, and Rian was not taking the threat lightly. 

“What are you?” Dean growled out 

Rian couldn’t respond, any amount of movement of her throat would result in cut skin.

“I said, what are you?” Dean repeated harshly. 

Rian looked down at Dean’s arm, and he followed her gaze to the knife. Getting the hint Dean moved the knife back but still kept it raised. 

Rian took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and then finally spoke. 

“I’m human, asshat.” Rian said, now glaring at the Winchester, “And if you’d let me do the fucking tests I could prove it. But no, macho Winchester has to slam me into the wall. Seriously, no respect these days.” 

“Dean.” Sam muttered, “She’s right, we haven’t done the tests.” 

Dean grumbled but let Rian go. He shuffled through a duffle bag and brought out a flask of holy water and a silver knife. 

Once they had done the tests to Dean's liking, Rian had insisted the brothers do them too, the three were sitting at the table. Rian looked at the bandage on her wrist and sighed. 

“It’s a long story.” Rian said, answering a question Dean had posed while Sam was cleaning Rian’s cut.  
“We’ve got time, sweetheart.” Dean said, “and you aren’t going anywhere until you tell us.” 

“What is your problem, Winchester?” Rian asked, glaring at the older brother, “I haven’t done shit to you.” 

“There’s no Rian Fitzgerald in Aberdeen, sweetheart, there has never been.” Dean growled, “There’s no Fitzgerald family at all.” 

“Your point?” Rian asked, still glaring at the Winchester. Sam found that he was impressed by Rian’s ability to hold her own, considering her earlier panic attacks. 

“My point is that we don’t know who you are.” Dean said, leaning forward to make his point clearer, “So you better start talking.” 

“Fine,” Rian spat, not liking Dean’s attitude one bit. She’d had an aggressive boyfriend in her second quarter of college, and Dean was acting just like he had. “Where should I start?”

“The beginning.” Sam suggested, his voice much kinder than Dean’s, though Rian could tell that he too was tense. 

Rian sighed, “Okay, My name is Rian Fitzgerald, I’m twenty-two years old, and I was born and raised in Aberdeen Washington. I attended the University of Washington for two years before my parents died. I’ve been working since then. I was working on some research for the firm I volunteered at on the weekends when you two climbed through my window.” 

There was silence in the room. 

“Anything else you think is worth mentioning?” Dean asked, “Some small detail that you deem to be unimportant.” 

“I’m not a witch, or any other kind of supernatural creature, Dean.” Rian said. After a pause of consideration she continued, “However there is something else, but I doubt you two are going to believe it.” 

“Try us” Dean dared, and Rian took the bait. 

“That room back there wasn’t mine. It was similar in some aspects, I guess. The bed was the same, the closet, the paint on the walls. But the desk and dresser weren’t. I have my workspace in my room too, so it’s never that neat. The clothes also weren’t mine. The laptop and phone were, but nothing else was.” Rian cleared her throat, “Here’s where you guys might think I’m crazy” Dean raised an eyebrow that said he already thought she was, Rian ignored it. “I think I’m from an alternate universe or something.” 

“Huh?” Dean breathed out, having not suspected that at all. 

“What makes you say that?” Sam asked, hiding his suspicion so that Rian would continue her story. 

“Well, the first clue was the room, the second was you two.” Rian said 

“Us?” Dean asked, pointing between him and his brother. 

“Yeah,” Rian agreed, leaning forward “You two. The Winchester brothers. Saving people, hunting things, the family business. You see, in this alternate universe your life is a TV show,” Rian held up a hand to stop them as the brothers tried to interrupt. “Yes, I know it sounds crazy but hear me out, please,” The brothers shared a look then nodded, “I think I can prove it.” 

“Go ahead,” Sam said after a moment of silence. 

Rian took a deep breath and then started, “Nod if what I say is correct, Sam, you went to Stanford with hopes to study law,” Sam nodded, “Dean, you were raised as a hunter, strict orders to protect Sam. Recently your dad went missing, and that’s why you got Sam from college.” Dean nodded, though the glare he was wearing was not giving Rian any confidence. 

“How do you know this?” Dean asked, his voice hard. 

“I told you,” Rian said, her voice just as hard, “A TV show.” 

“I don’t believe you.” Dean growled. 

“Well too bad.” Rian snaps, “Because it’s true, okay. You guys are characters on a fucking TV show in some alternate universe that I happen to have transported from, all right?” She was shouting now, “there’s nothing any of us can do about it so you might as well not be a dick.” 

Dean was quick if Rian hadn’t believed that before she believed in now. In the time that it took Rian to breathe Dean had her on the floor with a knife to her throat. 

Rian glared at him, despite the fact that she could barely catch her breath. He was glaring at her, but that wasn’t what scared Rian. It was the hard look Sam was giving her. Rian had hoped that Sam would be willing to at least hear her out. 

Apparently she had been wrong. 

“Do it.” She croaked out, “don’t you know how to pull through on a threat?” 

Rian could feel her eyes burn and tried to blink back the tears to no avail. She didn’t want to die; she was too young, and she had so much that she wanted to do. She wanted to go bar hopping in Canada and surfing in Mexico. She wanted to go backpacking in Europe. She wanted to ride a train across the entire country. 

“Dean,” Sam murmured, and Rian felt a surge of hope, maybe he would help her, “Maybe she’s right.” 

Dean didn’t let up any pressure on Rian, but he did turn to look at Sam. 

“And maybe she’s not, Sam.” Dean was nearly shouting, and it was not helping Rian calm down a bit, “We can’t trust her. We don’t know who she is and what she wants. Hell, she could be the thing that killed mom and Jess!” 

At that Dean turned to Rian to find that the girl was silently crying. Her eyes were shut tight, and Dean could see her lips moving, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. He paused for a moment to study her. 

She was shorter than him and Sammy but not super short, about five foot seven, five foot eight. She had long brown hair that apparently needed a wash. Her face was blotchy and her nose was running. Rian looked almost pitiful to Dean. 

But not enough for him to move. 

“I didn’t” Rian said suddenly, her eyes were open and she was staring at Dean with a determination that he hadn’t seen since Sam left for Stanford. “I’m not the ‘thing’ that killed Mary or Jess. I’m not a ‘thing’” She sneered the word, “I’m a goddamned human being Dean. I don’t want to hurt you or Sammy or anyone.” She took a pitiful breath and looked at Sam, “I just want to go home.”


End file.
